Remorse & Recovery
by rainbone
Summary: (REWRITING!) Elzbieta Bosak is a ten-month team Rainbow veteran, deriving from the Polish GROM; however, she's still having a difficult time adjusting to these new interpersonal and odd conditions at Hereford, while simultaneously fighting a war between her actions and feelings. After going on a solo rescue operation, her emotions take a turn in a direction she's never...
1. The Beginning

**_This is the new chapter!_**

* * *

 _Are you going to go home? You fucking waste of space! Hell, do you not think about how disappointed your mother would be in you?_ the voice sounded in my head. I felt a tear roll down my cheek, but I couldn't bring myself to wipe it off.

 _Are you not done? Can you not remember the pain you've caused others?_ it said.

Tina looked at me, puzzled. "Hello..? Are you o-" she peeped before my head tuned out the rest. She snapped her fingers once or twice and I lapsed out of my dream, blankly staring at her brown eyes. "Ela? Are you okay?" she asked, reaching over and wiping the tear off of my cheek. I laid my hat down onto the table and removed my hair-tie, releasing my long brown hair. Tina got up from her seat in front of me and moved around the table, sitting right next to me. My eyes didn't waver from where they were before. "You're okay," she said, hugging me and resting my head on her shoulder.

I didn't say a word. I didn't feel very bad either, however, I guess my physical condition said otherwise. I wasn't sure if I was okay - a tour in Iraq should have closed the case for me, but I took on Rainbow for reasons unknown to myself? Why would I make a decision to do something I don't want to? Self-fulfillment, I suppose. Tina caressed and parted the hair above my right ear silently. It had been maybe a day or two since one of our French operators, one I hadn't really known all too well, was captured. Even though we were loosely connected, the threats and ransom demands had really put a dent in my conscience.

His name was Julien Nizan if I recall correctly. He spent most of his time talking with the other GIGN members and a few other original Rainbow members but never warmed up to some of the newcomers. Nizan and I had talked a few times on occasion and I had enjoyed talking with him, he was filled with warmth and good intent. Not a humanitarian, but seemed like he wanted to save the world from its evil. "Ela? Are you..." Tina interjected, interrupting my internal discouse.

"Tina, what do you think is to become of Nizan?" I asked. I knew the answer she would give would be filled with fluff.

"I'd like to think that they're treating him well, maybe giving him a good cup of tea or coffee in the morning... all that jazz," she said.

I chortled. "Breakfast in bed, hopefully," I said.

"Right," she said. She released her hand and looked at me with content, and I exchanged the look. Tina was probably one of the most battle-torn beyond Baker, who was in his mid-fifties and probably should have retired years ago, but she still kept a strong sense of humor in times of panic. Elias had that same sense of humor, something you really couldn't knock out of him if you tried. Tina stood up and fixed the collar on her white shirt. "I've got to go, Ela, take care of yourself," she said, smiling.

"No promises," I said, smiling back. Her smile faded slightly and she opened her mouth to say something, but she turned and left without a goodbye. I sat there for a moment recuperating my thoughts.

* * *

The room was pitch black and my body was enchanted by the soft mattress under me. One of the only things in Hereford that excited me was sleeping; the beds here weren't like the awfully attended ones in any GROM barrack or anything my previous PMC provided in Iraq. I exited my praise and sat up in my bed, pulling on a pair of black, rugged pair of skinny jeans I had purchased well before I toured in Iraq. I stood up and maneuvered my head around this one god awful low-lying beam that I always ran my head into. I listened for a moment where I heard some soft snoring, which led me to the conclusion that Aria de Luca, or Alibi if my memory's correct, was still sleeping.

When she was first introduced at a debrief when we began a covert operation in Italy, I thought she'd be a good choice to bunk with instead of Zofia. Zofia and I were never really on good terms - we just acknowledged each other's presence and went on with our work, however, there was no way in hell that I would ever voluntarily bunk with her. Dispute aside, she's just not the ideal person for me; I'm quote unquote "rebellious" and she's way too in-line with rules. I guess our, or her, father really nailed his legacy into her. Zofia aside, Aria was definitely not the ideal person to bunk with. She was naggy, annoying, somewhat scandalous, and much, much more.

Though, I'd still take her over Zofia anyday.

I walked over to the dorm room and twisted the handle, careful not to make any noise. I didn't have a readily available alarm clock and my watch had inconvientially died, so I had to go into the hallway to see what time it was. I exited, shutting the door carefully behind me and looked up at the protruding box which read 5:52 A.M. in bright red. I decided to head down to the shooting range as Marius and Elias, two of the GSG-9 operatives, were usually awake at this time and I wasn't feeling going back to bed. I made my way carefully downstairs, clumsily running into the handrail and broozing my hip, where I continued towards industrial light from the range filled the hallway from under the steel door.

Inside Marius was sitting in a fold-up chair loading up a magazine, and Elias was sitting on the counter just next to Marius's can of bullets. Elias had a white t-shirt on and Marius had a GSG-9 windproof jacket on; both were wearing jeans. "Ah, Ela!" Marius said. "Odd to see you awake so early, I heard yesterday Meghan literally had to drag you out of the bed!"

"I'm surprised too," I said. I never wake up this early.

"And you're not tired either? Am I talking to the real Ela Bosak!?" Elias laughed. "Marius and I have been down here talking about the new girl, Ayla or something?"

"Aria," I said.

"Aria, yes. You bunk with her, right?" he asked curiously.

"Yep. Why?" I returned.

"Well, Marius has been keeping an eye out, yeah," he said laughing. I couldn't help but giggle a bit. "I have to admit: Marius has a good eye."

"Share it with the whole world, why don't you?" Marius sneered. A huge smile crept onto my face as the mesmerizing sound of Marius loading the magazine filled the room, _click_... _click_... _click_. "Ela, what do you think about the no-fraternization rule?"

"What, are you really trying to get in her pants that bad? No first date?" I said.

"You are not getting anything either, Ela. When was the last time you've talked to a boy?" he asked. I couldn't recall and stayed silent. "Yes, exactly."

Elias laughed. "Marius hasn't talked to her yet. Ela, maybe you could se-" he said, interrupted. Aria stepped into the room and Elias's face flushed with red. Marius's balaclava was on, however, you could still see the nervous look in his eyes.

"Hi! I'm Aria de Luca," Aria said, holding out her hand to Elias.

"Elias Kotz," Elias said, shaking her hand. "This is Marius," he said gesturing to Marius,who was still looking like a deer in headlights. Marius snapped back into reality and shook her hand.

"Nice to meet you," Marius chimed. They began to chat and I instead left the range with Elias. The lights throughout Hereford were now on and Elias made his way up to the mess hall, now lively and busy. I instead ditched him and went to my dorm.

* * *

Julien's eyes shot open as he felt something sharp puncture his arm. He winced and breathed quickly to suppress the pain. "What the... what the fuck?" he said, staring at the needle that had just injected some sort of adrenaline into him. The feeling was familiar to Gustave's, yet it wasn't the same. This wasn't his med-bay.

He was laying down on a sturdy metal table. He glared down at all of the dried blood that definitely wasn't his, and his reflexes drew a single conclusion: he was not in control of this situation. He stared at his wrists which were tightly bound to the cold tabletop. He was not getting out of this so easily.

He sat there for a moment, not knowing what to do. He wasn't always the greatest problem solver; he had never been put into any truly life-threating situation before. The industrial lights made him anxious as the door to his left let out a distinct beep as it promptly creaked open. Julien said nothing as he glared over at the masked individual that entered the room. They wore a black hoodie, black jeans, and an all too familiar white hockey mask.

Julien said nothing as the person covered his entire face with a cloth. _Waterboarding?_

"Julien Nizan? Alias: Rook. You look quite angsty. You feeling alright?" the individual asked. They had a distinct British accent. Rook said nothing. "Very well... let me just cut to the juicy bits. Look, we already know about Rainbow's presence. You guys are supposedly covert anti-terrorism? Bull-fucking-shit. You guys have been wiping our bases off of the map for how long? Three years. Three. Fucking. Years," he said. "Do you think that we would just let you play games with us for that long with no repercussions? Yeah. You're part of the message we're sending back to Rainbow, pal. Sit tight."

Rook attempted to keep calm and silent. Being chatty wouldn't help him out of the situation, so there was absolutely no need to talk to whoever this was about his organization. Rook wasn't ready to die.

A sharp, slow sharp edge of an object, probably a knife, cut through the skin on his forearm. Rook winced and subtly cried out - the cut was deep; they were really trying to inflict pain. "You're going to answer some questions for me. Answer them and I'll let you leave, not promising that your colleagues at Rainbow will leave untouched. It's not like we intended to make peace." Rook's heart raced. "Question one," the person said as Nizan began to feel cold water drench the cloth, slowly but impactful. "Where is Rainbow operating from? Come on... easy answer."

Rook kept his mouth shut. If he died here, nobody would be able to get the answers out of him. The GIGN always advised him about torture, however, Rainbow took that to a whole new ordeal. He wasn't operating under the jurisdiction of the GIGN anymore. This was extreme.

Water seeped to his throat as he tried to breathe but the air didn't come to him. For seconds that felt like minutes, he tried to beat the system that was kicking the life out of him. "So... you're not going to talk?" the person said. "You're making this harder than it has to be." The water stopped for a second and Rook felt extremely relieved. How long was he going to endure this? Forever?

A knife jabbed at his arm again, except this time the person dragged the knife along his arm. The cut wasn't as deep as the first one but it surely intended to create discomfort, and it did just that. "Okay, Nizan. We'll wait," the person said. Rook heard him walk back and sit down chuckling to himself. A tear formed in Rook's eye. This was going to be a long, painful night.

* * *

I sat in my dorm toying around with my hairbrush, removing all the remnants of my previous green hair which were embed and tangled. I had let my hair grow out since I'd arrived at Rainbow because it highlighted my history, which I did not want to come to cross paths with. New place, new people, new beginnings, new Elzbieta. I dug at the last piece of hair, digging it out and plopping it in a small trashcan. The strands clumped together and looked like an animal. A green, dead animal.

Aria walked back into the room and grabbed pieces of her G.I.S. gear, heading out to the front yard for CQB basics with Maxim. I stared at the clock which read 9:34 P.M. and was puzzled. "What are you doing thirty minutes before curfew?" I asked.

"CQB basics," Aria replied. Maxim had trained much of Rainbow due to his outlying experience from the grueling Spetsnaz training, or what much of Rainbow calls "extreme hazing." It seems as if it left a mark on much of the Spetsnaz members, however, it also seems like a lot of them haven't retained the impressive hand-to-hand skills like Maxim. Aria was going to experience Maxim's brutish training for the first time. Fun.

I instead passed on the training. Of course, I probably would have to go and talk to Six later about "authority issues" and other bullshit. In the meantime, I could just relax and have some Ela time. Just as I laid down, Aleksandre busted into my dorm looking for me. "Elzbieta... Six wants you upstairs fast," he said, out of breath.

"Okay, thanks," I said. Aleksandre sat in the doorway and caught his breath, exiting and leaving my door open. _Ugh._ I got up and made my way upstairs in due time where Six's door was wide open. She sat there at her desk with a straight face glaring directly at me. It was genuinely intimidating. "Six, you needed me?" I asked.

"Right. I'm just going to cut to the chase," she said. _Here it comes,_ I thought to myself.

"You're going after Nizan."

* * *

 _Hi! This is a chapter I just slapped together to give more context and develop both the plot and the characters a bit more. Probably isn't too good, but I guess it'll suffice? Hope you enjoyed._


	2. Close Shave (Revised)

I took a deep breath as I stared down the holographic sight on my Scorpion EVO. I hated the sight so much just because of the bezel, but I was in no position to have a fit over it. My position made me uneasy, staring down a dark, muggy hallway with a singular light, of which I could visibly see the mosquitoes lurking around it. I adjusted my backpack strap, keeping my weapon pointed towards the left end of the hall. I sighed and checked my step, entering the hallway.

I followed the edge of the wall as I reached the end of the corridor. I quickly swapped sides, clumsily slamming myself against the wall. No one was there. "Okay," I sighed to myself, proceeding to the left. My back was exposed being alone in this area, so I relied on luck. I put myself against a rugged door which had what seemed to be dried blood on it and started to jiggle the handle. Unlocked I thought to myself. Amateur move.

In a heartbeat, I opened the door and my eyes alongside my submachine-gun muzzle snapped to an enemy with a balaclava. Instinctively, three suppressed shots rang out and a distinct thud rang throughout the room. I heard someone start panicking and a smile crawled onto my face. Before he was able to process what just happened, I swung around the corner firing a few shots into the faint silhouette of a man in the shadows. Another thud rang through the room. I scanned the room and my eyes widened as I had found what I was sent for: Nizan. Shit, I thought to myself eyeing him.

I scanned the corners of the room and slung my submachine-gun, and my eyes scanned all over his body appalled at his condition. The room was dark - really dark, with a single, faint light hanging from the middle of the room. The room reeked horribly and was small which made me a bit claustrophobic, but I had adjusted in due time. I stared at Nizan again, hoping that he was unconscious. He was wearing his compression shirt that goes under his GIGN fatigues, except it was battered and cut, with slits all up and down his arms. He had a single slash on his left cheek, and whoever was doing this to him paid no attention to keeping him in at least a suitable condition. Regardless, there was an issue, which was they had sent maybe one of the weakest operators here to come and find him. I couldn't bear to see him in this condition, I couldn't come close to imagining how horrible it must've been for him. I needed to move as fast as possible though, and with haste I pulled out my knife, releasing him from his zip-tie constraint.

I turned away from Nizan and drew my RG-15, also fitted with a suppressor, and moved towards the door. I quickly leaned out weapon drawn in each direction and made sure the coast was clear before I started to move Nizan. Okay, here we go, I thought in my head, you can do this, Elzbieta. I holstered my weapon and picked him up by his forearms and heard the blood gluing him to the floor release. "God," I whispered to myself, and started to drag him towards the door. You're so lucky to have found him before they could've done any further damage, I thought. Just a minute later, I heard footsteps coming from the stairwell I had initially come from. I hastily propped Nizan up against a wall and drew my RG-15 again, swinging around the corner. "You fucker!" the assailant said, somehow already at the corner and greeted me with a solid punch to the left side of my face.

I stumbled dropping my handgun but regained my composure, quickly drawing my knife. He drew his knife and swung at me, barely missing my left shoulder. I hastily and sloppily slashed right under his right peck making him yelp, but he wasn't done yet. In a flash, he grabbed my lower torso running at full-speed and tacked me to the ground and swung quickly trying to inflict any damage. I blocked his attack to my face and he averted his attack, slitting my right upper-thigh open. I winced in pain. He cocked his hand back, and just before he was able to throw his knife into my neck, I was quicker in delivering the final blow, making his body fall limp on top of me. I threw him off, and looked at my new wound, which was now sparingly bleeding. Shallow cut, I thought to myself, I could still perform. I got back to Nizan who sat propped lifelessly and picked him up again, dragging him towards the entry point.

I was dragging Nizan down the damaged staircase, trying to neglect the sharp jolt of pain that went up my thigh whenever I took a step. I got him to the first turn on the wooden stairs and propped him against a wall, catching my breath. I stared at the bright moonlight that poured into the room and assumed that the outside perimeter would hopefully be secure as I had cleared it prior to entry. I walked over back to him and picked up his limp body, sluggishly dragging him to the rugged Mercedes that Six had commissioned for me years ago; my personal car. I opened the back and got low, struggling to pick up but successfully stowing him in the back of the vehicle, gagging as the smell of his odor mixed with all the blood reached my nose. I got in, started the ignition and winced as I stepped on the gas pedal, the car accelerating and quickly averting from the barren, old home. I guided my hand to his wrist and held it for a moment. A pulse.

I sat back in my seat with a sigh of relief and kept driving.

* * *

 _Greetings! Quick note: I'm a new and generally intermediate author, and I'm generally just here to better myself as a writer. Generally I'm aware that the formatting is more novel-like in a sense, but besides for said flaw, please give me any constructive criticism you have whether you have writing experience or not! I'm always willing to read reviews and modify my writing and previous chapters to the majority's liking and if I find myself coming back to this website more often, I think I may consider making my presence here permanent._

 _Anyways, thanks for reading! More chapters are on the way._


	3. The Arrival

My watch woke me up with its stupid ear-piercing alarm. I wiped my eyes and looked around at my settings, still in the car. I had pulled over and fallen asleep, and Nizan was still there in the backseat. I wasn't far at all from Hereford and I started the ignition again, continuing my lengthy drive. In roughly 20 minutes, I arrived back at Hereford. Elena was at the door to greet me and I tried to give my biggest smile, but she saw right through it. "I'm going to assume you found him," she said.

"Yep - yeah... I did," I replied, my smile fading, "where's Doc?" "Should be inside at the med-bay, need any help with him?" she asked. I averted my eyes from hers.

"No, no. I'll be okay handling it," I replied. There's no way she noticed the gash in my leg, but I didn't expect much more as she was practically oblivious. I walked into Hereford and peered down the hallway which was clear, including the rec room which was usually filled. I struggled to get Nizan out of the backseat, but eventually managed to do so dragging him towards the med-bay. I struggled to get him down the stairs again wincing at every step when Doc, or Gustave, saw me and Nizan and rushed to help. "Oh! Ela!" he said, running over to me and Nizan. He ran over and hoisted up Nizan with ease and I felt embarrassed for the first time in ages. "What happened to him?" he asked worriedly.

"I - I don't know. It shocked me as well to see him like that, but he still had a pulse when I checked it this morning in the car," I explained. "There was blood all over the floor where he sat restrained and I also ended up getting this nasty gash across my leg," motioning to my upper thigh.

"Come, come, come... I can't give my full attention to you for the time being because of Nizan, but take these," he said, tossing me field dressings. "Put some iodine over it, and yes - it'll surely hurt because of the size. I'm sure you have some," he added, "and I always thought it was impossible for you to get a wound like that." He chuckled. I blushed but tried to hide it.

"Thanks, I'll be back to check up on Nizan soon," I added. That was so, so... peculiar of me, I thought to myself. I thanked Doc again and left back to my room. It was still early in the day, but I was dying to flop my face into my pillow and sleep, hoping that Mike "Thatcher" Baker would understand my situation and let me slumber. The sight of Nizan just plagued my mind, constantly hoping he would be okay. I made my way to my room, opened the door, and beelined to my bed. "Not even going to say hello?" Aria de Luca asked me with a chuckle.

"I'm tired," I mumbled flopping onto my bunk, "what do you want?" "I suppose that's a sub-par greeting. How'd everything go?" she asked, curiously. She was new and still managed to get on my nerves.

"Not so great, but I'm not interested in spilling the details. In summary, Nizan got roughed up and I've got a gash on my leg." The gash on my leg, I thought, reminded of Doc's instructions. I sat up and scooted towards my nightstand which held my almost empty bottle of iodine. "Can you throw me a washcloth from the bathroom?" I asked Aria.

"Do I have to?" she replied, getting up simultaneously and getting me a dirty washcloth, eyeing my gash. "Whoa. Who did that to you?"

"Yeah, because I'm obviously taking names of my assailants," I replied. I doused a corner of the cloth in iodine and rubbed it over the wound, clenching my teeth whenever the iodine made contact.

"Fottiti," she muttered under her breath. She was toying with one of her holograms dangerously, but I paid no mind to it. She could shock herself and I wouldn't bat an eye. "Go get some sleep. I'll be off to the rec room," she finished. I stayed silent and wrapped my wound in the dressings as she got up and left, then laying back in my bed removing my backpack. I paid no mind to even making myself comfortable as I'd just felt relieved I was back in my own bed. In due time, I was snoozing.

* * *

 _Quick Note: This chapter had some really odd grammatical and spelling issues which I have now ironed out after proofreading. I'll start adding more lengthy chapters because I've noticed they're a bit lacking! Thanks for reading!_


	4. Familiar Face

I woke up and stretched, still laying down in my bed. I didn't want to get up and my leg ached, but regardless I sat up, with my eyes still recuperating from the abrupt wakeup. Aria stood just in front of me and scared the life out of me and I jumped, hitting my head on the only low-hanging beam from Aria's bunk above. "Agh - why are you here?" I asked, sort of agitated. She didn't reply, and I heard a faint, familiar laugh from down the hallway. Fucking de Luca. I got up and walked around the hologram, setting down the headset and hat I didn't put up before I fell asleep. I caught a view of her alarm clock as well which read "6:13" P.M., which wasn't exactly ideal. I walked over through the open door and glanced at the rec room, which was full and lively as usual; however, I was more interested in going down to the med-bay to check up on Doc and Nizan. I entered the med-bay and Doc gave me a warm greeting. "Hello! Hello, Ela. Welcome," he said. "Coming here for Nizan?"

"Just to check up. I've just been worried, couldn't keep him off my mind after seeing him like that," I returned. I walked over and sat down in one of his armchairs.

"Couldn't keep him off your mind, yes," he replied. There was something in his voice and his proceeding glare that I really didn't like. "He seems to be recovering well. Soon he'll be out of here and recovering in due time. His wounds have been treated and he's reacting well to the antibiotics."

Monika walked into the room and her eyes widened, surprised to see me. "Ela! I have been looking all over for you! The others haven't seen you, but Elena told everyone you were back," she said, cheerfully. Her eyes then veered over towards Nizan on the table. "Is that Nizan? He's back?"

"Yeah," I said. I sighed, and Monika directed her eyes toward my gash.

"...and what happened to you?" she asked.

"Just got a bit roughed up, don't worry about it," I replied. I generally was feeling better.

"Right, so come on down to the rec room soon and come say hello to everyone again, but I wouldn't mention Nizan's condition," she finished, leaving. I stayed in silence and watched Doc as he flicked syringes and opened and closed cases for the next few minutes when he broke the silence. "Like music?" he asked, walking over to what seemed to be an ancient record player. He slipped a record onto the turntable and it began to play Schubert's Ave Maria. "De Luca brought this one down from me, said she inherited it from her father after his passing," he explained. "Beautiful, isn't it?"

"Absolutely," I replied. We listened in silence for what seemed to be five minutes. I was staring at the record player for an abnormal amount of time as the music filled the room and hallway beyond the opened doors.

"As much as I'd love to stay, I think I better get on to the rec room. Keep doing good work," I said.

"Yes, yes, Elzbieta. Go on, he will be better in no time," he replied.

I stood up and walked out of the room up the stairs, the song still pouring out of the med-bay. It put me at ease, and for some reason I felt appalled that Aria was even relatively interested in that sort of music, unless she had gifted it to Doc to keep. I reached the top of the stairs and I entered the rec room to get a warm greeting from initially Jordan and later collectively everyone. Zofia, my sister, was the only person who didn't give me a greeting, but I had become accustomed to her arrogance. We didn't get along and I didn't expect for that to change anytime in the near future. Whatever, it didn't bother me much. I walked around and had a chat with Emmanuelle to catch me up to speed on what happened while I was gone for those three days: nothing. Having going on the only recent operation, I assumed that there were plenty of people interested in what occurred but I couldn't bring myself to talk about it with anyone. Rather, I just walked around and chatted for what seemed like half an hour when everyone began to return to their rooms.

I instead decided to go to the roof to blow off some steam, slowly trudging up the stairs. I checked my watch which now read 8:54 P.M., but didn't mind the time. Regardless of when Baker would wake us up tomorrow, I'd still be tired. I opened the roof access door and walked out into the crisp, cool air with the moonlight lighting up my GROM hoodie. I walked over to the edge of the building, resting my body weight on the steel railing. I exhaled pretty audibly and stared up into the night sky. I removed my gloves and pocketed them. The air was gentle and my hoodie kept my body warm as the wind kissed my skin. Suddenly, a familiar voice cut through the silence: "Ah, Ela!" It startled me and I turned around to see none other than Nizan, stumbling in my direction. I hastily ran over and supported him, bringing him to hold onto the railing. I laughed. "I couldn't find you in the entire complex," he explained, "the others told me they thought they had seen you escape up here. I felt the drift coming from the open door and knew you were definitely here."

I kept silent for a moment. "It's so, so nice to see you," I said. _So stupid,_ I thought.

"It's nice to see you as well, a sight for sore eyes," he said, laughing. "Anyways, let me get to the point - I just wanted to thank you for saving me."

"It's nothing, of course they had sent probably one of the weakest operators out to do the job," I said. I giggled and blushed, but my cheeks were already red from the cold temperature. He laughed.

"Well, you definitely did one hell of a job. I better get on back to the med-bay though, Doc still wants to finalize what he was doing," he explained. He stumbled back towards the roof-access door, but I didn't help him this time. A huge smile crept up on my face without me being conscious of it and I just turned and stared back at him as he trudged to the door. He left, and I remained outside for about ten more minutes when I decided to return to my room.

I arrived at the door and unintentionally turned it rigorously subconsciously just to remember it was lights-out, which meant there'd probably be quite a few pissed operators coming out to scold me. I didn't mind it and hurried in, closing the door behind me. I turned around quickly and met Aria with less than five centimeters between our faces. "So, you and Nizan, huh?" she said.

"Shut the hell up," I snapped. "Don't push yourself."

"I can see your rosy cheeks, Elzbieta..." she sang quietly, turning around.

"I - I was on the roof... it's chilly outside," I explained. _Shouldn't have stuttered,_ echoed in my mind.

"Sure, sure. I believe you. You're wholly aware about the no-fraternization rule by chance, riiiight?" she said walking towards her upper bunk.

"Just... stop," I said. I was tired of her and her annoying personality. "I'm tired of hearing all of the bullshit coming out of your mouth."

"Am I wrong, though?" she asked. She was putting up her red beret and getting into bed.

"Yes? Are you - okay, we're officially done," I said. _Ugh._

"That's upsetting, it was just starting to get interesting!" she exclaimed. I just ignored her and sat down on my bed. "So... Nizan's better now?"

"Should've gone to see for yourself," I said. The clock read 11:13 P.M. now and I was about asleep. I swear she kept trying to bug me but I was too tired to interpret anything. I reapplied fresh dressings to my wound which seemed to be getting better quite quickly, and laid back staring at the rungs of the bunk above me. Aria was gently snoring at this point, and I laid on my side. She's insane, I thought just before dozing off.


	5. Settling In (Modified)

I woke up and the room was pitch black. I assumed it was the middle of the night, shuffling over to check Aria's alarm clock which was annoyingly on my nightstand. The screen read 5:34 A.M., a perfect time to be asleep. Although I had gotten six to seven hours of sleep, I was still extremely exhausted. "Aria?" I whispered quietly. No response. I sighed and picked up my hairbrush which was on the floor and filtered out the knots that had miraculously appeared while I was sleeping. I stood up, cautious of the low-lying beam of Aria's bunk and looked up at her bunk. The blankets were sprawled and the bunk was empty. I sighed and rubbed my eyes, walking over to our personal bathroom.

It was barren with nothing more than a mirror, sink, and toilet; however it was close to one of the only portions of Hereford where you ever got any true privacy. Turning on the faucet, I looked into the mirror at myself and smiled, then splashing my face with cold water and drying it off with a clean wash-cloth. I assumed that the wound was good enough to fair without being tended to, so I left it as is and left the room. The hallway was about pitch black as well, with a single beam of light emitting from the bottom of the showers. I paid no mind to it and instead diverted downstairs as the nearby mess hall and rec room were still dark, assuming nobody was in there. I felt an abnormal urge to just talk to someone, spill out what was on my mind so I wouldn't have said thoughts plaguing me throughout the day.

I wandered in the halls at Hereford for about fifteen or so minutes without a peep from anyone, assuming they were all asleep or just lingering in their dorms. I personally never woke up this early and if I did - I was never willing to get up and start my day. The others probably filed into that same category, but I had never been awake early enough to know who the early birds at Rainbow were. I walked back up the stairs and noticed the light in the showers remained on without any noise coming from the inside, which prompted me to go inside and turn the light off. The showering quarters were a little more complex than anything I've had back in Poland; it had a "buffer" locker room with an adjacent door that led you to the actual showers. Oddly enough, the light was on in the showers as well.

After sluggishly walking over to the light switch, which was on the other side of the locker room, I realized that the showers were not silent. A voice, an extremely familiar one, pierced through the silence, now completely audible without a door muffling it. The tone in her voice was alluring, and just as I was about to open the door to check, a robust laugh that definitely wasn't hers pierced the silence. There was no doubt in my mind that this wasn't Aria, however, my mind drifted more to think about who she was with. Suddenly, my train of thought was interrupted when I heard the pitter-patter of feet shuffling towards the door, which I averted from and quickly and quietly made haste towards an adjacent room.

My mind hopped over Nizan once again. The med-bay was nearby and I thought about going to see him, but he was probably asleep and I wholly doubted Doc would be there as well. Then my mind hopped over the thought of seeing him again - Doc wouldn't be there. I heard muffled laughing from both individuals in the locker room again, and my eyes guided themselves towards the door, waiting to see who her significant other was. Aria's comment, "you know about the no-fraternization rule, right?" echoed in my head. This was going to be good.

I watched as the doorknob turned and I watched a tall figure step out into the darkness with the light shining against their back, which I couldn't make out who it was as they weren't wearing anything distinguishing. Fuck, I thought to myself. Aria cut into the silence again with a goodbye, but the person said absolutely nothing and shut the door. I wouldn't have thought much of it unless I hadn't seen a bright yellow patch on the person's dark pants. Olivier? He's had much too troubled of a past to try and compensate for it with Aria - and of all people, Aria?

A few minutes later I caught Aria opening the door and checking both sides, unable to see me in the pitch black darkness of whatever this room was - maybe the laundry room? She left in a sports bra and black skinny jeans, which I gave her credit for as she actually looked presentable for once in her whole life. I decided I'd save the banter for later tonight and instead exited the room and went towards the med-bay to go see Nizan. Why? echoed in my mind as I wasn't even so sure myself. Suddenly I ran into someone when I overtook a dark corner who literally knocked me down to the floor, where I first caught a glimpse of the snowy, white combat pants.

I looked up and Sebastien laughed and extended his hand to help me up, which I gladly took. He drew me into a hug which I respectfully obliged as Sebastien was considerably my best friend in the whole facility. He locked me in an embrace and let go a few moments after which comforted me a lot as I'd felt a bit uneasy these past couple of days. "Is this the Ela Bosak? Dear Lord, it feels like it's been forever since I've last seen you! Keeping up well?" he said. He was ridiculously energetic for a sub-par person like me.

"I've had better days," I chirped. "It's nice to see you again, Sebastien."

He laughed. "Man, well I've got to get going because if I stay around to chat I'll be late to breakfast," he asserted.

"It's not like anything Baker's made is something to get excited about," I said. We both laughed.

He placed his hand on my shoulder and shook me playfully. "Right, see you around, Bosak." He promptly left and I continued into the industrial-like med-bay with Nizan laying down in a small bed to the right. It seemed almost hospital-like, but Six had never given Doc proper hospital utility; most of it had come from his pocket. There was no I.V., fancy machines, or anything. Just Nizan, probably sleeping or frankly unconscious, but regardless I entered the room quietly and sat next to him. I looked at his arm and all of the cuts on it, and started to run my finger from near his elbow to about his wrist when he woke up with a jolt that even knocked me out of my chair.

I fell back and my back hit the wall with considerable force without any real damage. Nizan moved over to the right side of the bed and looked over towards me and laughed uncontrollably which I thought was adorable. I'd probably be laughing too if I didn't have the wind knocked out of me. I coughed ridiculously and smiled through it, getting up and picking the chair back up. I seated myself and he broke the silence: "quite the introduction, Elzbieta." He laughed again and I couldn't help but smile.

"You scared the living hell out of me," I said. I was still regaining my breath.

"Well, someone's running their fingers down your arm, something is definitely going on," he said. I kept silent for a moment, still processing. "Nice of you to come see me."

"You've kept me worried for a long time, Nizan. You'd probably have everyone worried if they were conscious of you even being here," I finished.

"I've had plenty of visitors, don't worry about me Bosak. You're holding up well, yes? I saw the bandages on your leg, that's surely a new addition," he said.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm doing well," I said. I smiled but felt a bit uneasy around Nizan for reasons unknown. When was the last time I'd had a significant other? "Okay... Nizan, I should get going," I said, looking at the clock which read 5:49 A.M. Time had been moving so slowly.

"Right," he said. He outstretched his arms for a hug and I obliged. I hadn't known him very well before his rescue, but we'd definitely formed some sort of friendship - or relationship since the operation. He let me loose and I walked towards the door and opened it, looking back and smiling at Rook who was relaxing and at ease. I closed to the door behind me, greeted Doc who was now sitting at his desk, and made my way into the darkness back upstairs where the mess hall lights were now on and one of the Dominic was making German food for breakfast instead of Baker. I caught a glimpse of Aria talking to Miles and Aleksandr and the remaining Germans all condensed at one table.

Time to start the day.

* * *

 _Author's Note: Considerably, I think this is probably one of the most substantial chapters I've written so far. Took me about an hour, but generally I think it's not wholly bad given I don't have much time through the day to write ginormous chapters like some other writers do. Regardless, I hope you enjoyed it even if it was a bit slow; it's more about character development instead of actual action or romantic scenes, but those will be coming soon. Also, if you're here for smut, I don't plan on writing any as it's excruciatingly difficult to not hate myself after doing so - there's so many more opportunities to create substantial stories without in-depth sex scenes or anything of the like. Thanks for reading, more coming soon!_


	6. Icebreaker

I sat down at a table near Yumiko and Meghan and stared at the glop of food that was festering on my plate. Yumiko stared at me oddly, probably still not completely awake yet. Yumiko's eyes averted back to her plate as she stirred and messed around with her mashed potatoes. Meghan was preoccupied with something in her lap, presumably her phone, and I assumed she was trying to talk to her mother or something of the like. My thoughts started to veer towards my mother but I dismissed them hastily. It wasn't time to be emotional or sappy. The table was a bit awkward to sit at, so I instead stood up silently and scanned the room for someone else to talk to.

The French operators seemed to be having the time of their life, but I wasn't interested solely due to how the only people at the table were Emmanuelle and Olivier. Emmanuelle and I were on good terms and I personally would consider us friends, but Olivier and I had some bumpy experiences in the past. Olivier was never the smartest when it came to prioritizing action or emotion over the other. I suppose he let the remnants of the past take over, which left us on a relatively bad and awkward note, but I dismissed that as well. Rekindling old friendships, not relationships, could wait for later. I definitely intended and anticipated having a word with Olivier later regarding Aria - the probable highlight of my day.

Tina, the JTF2 operator, instead caught my eye as she was talking to Sebastien who had apparently made his way into the mess hall without me noticing. I shoved the slop that Baker had made into the trash and had brought my now suspiciously empty plate over to Tina and Sebastien. They seemed to be chatting up a storm about some old friend or something - I wasn't really paying attention. "Hey!" Tina initiated as I got close and sat down, lowering myself into one of the seats.

"Hey, hey. Look who cared to join the party!" Sebastien said again. Something about his overwhelming energy just felt out of place.

I smiled. "Hi," I chirped. Guess it wasn't the greatest greeting, but I wasn't the greatest people person either.

"We were just talking about Elena, she's been acting a bit weird lately," he said.

"Yeah, we can't just put our finger on what she's trying to hide. Elena's cool, but she's also overly secretive," Tina interjected.

"Not that it's bad, rest assured," Sebastien said. "We just want to know what goes on in that little brain of hers."

I was still processing but responded, "I haven't noticed anything, but maybe it's just because I don't really see her much around Hereford. Most I've seen from her is her helping Emmanuelle or pulling all-nighters in the workshop." I wasn't lying either, Elena was a dweller in the workshop just like Emmanuelle which explains why they work together on so many new projects. I didn't care enough about Elena to get involved with her personal life.

"Yeah. Okay, I'm off," Tina said.

"Yeah, me too. Later Ela," Sebastien said. He followed Tina as she got up and went downstairs. Sometimes I was curious as to if Sebastien and Tina had something going on as well. Everyone at Rainbow, at least to my concern, was aware of the no-fraternization rule, but most of them subtly disregarded it. They led on generally short secret relationships, which is exactly what Olivier attempted to reel me into when he first arrived. Sebastien had always told me that he wasn't interested in anyone at Rainbow, but there's just something about his tone that told me otherwise.

I dismissed my stupid speculation and instead headed towards the laundry room to clean some of my damaged and dirty clothes properly. I continued downstairs and headed to the laundry room to my left where I clumsily ran into Aria as she was leaving with a full basket of clean clothes. She just smiled half-heartedly, helped me up, and continued about her day without saying a word. I walked inside towards the washing machine where I threw my clothes in, dropped one of those all-in-one detergent packets inside, and shut it, turning it on. I rested my elbows on the top of the machine and sighed audibly after making sure there was no one in my vicinity.

I was tired - not physically tired but more-so emotionally strained. I couldn't wipe the image of Nizan out of my head for reasons I'm even unsure about given I've seen worse - much, much worse. I'd probably get over it in a few days, instead, I just needed something to take my mind off of it. Someone walked in behind me, but I didn't bother to turn around. After a few moments, I felt my sides squeeze in and my reflexes launched me on top of the washing machine where I turned my whole body around. The person, she, laughed audibly. "Never gets old," Meghan said.

"I'm already over it. Stop doing that," I said. I guess I sounded sort of agitated but that was unintentional.

"Okay, okay... okay," she said singsong-like. "Something on your mind? I swear I've never seen you more zoned out than you were just a moment ago." She took her top off and plopped it on the adjacent dryer.

I stared at her. Meghan was always attractive but I had never considered her to be a good partner - especially since she wasn't even wholly reliable in this line of work. "A sports bra? Where are you going?" I asked.

"Was just going to do some training at the gym. Say, have you seen Taina lately?" she asked, resting her elbow on the dryer while placing the side her chin on her closed fist.

"I haven't," I responded. "What do you need her for?"

"I can trust you, right?" she said. We'd grown really close since we worked jointly in Iraq for a few years.

I said nothing for a moment. "Yeah, yeah," I sluggishly responded.

"I've actually got a bit of an interest in Taina, but her handler won't let me get within like three feet of her. Real annoying, he says I'm a bad influence," she complained. "I'm pretty sure Taina's the one with the bad influence... and God damn, who told that man that he can dictate everything she does? Stupid."

Capitao was quite odd in retrospect, but I still had tremendous respect for the man. "He's not all that bad, but I agree, that's real stupid."

"Right?" she said in a crescendoing tone. "Meh, it's not all that important. See anyone around here that you're interested in?" she asked curiously.

My mind hopped to Nizan for a moment but I didn't think I was at a point where I could feel confident with my answer. "I don't think so," I said.

"Don't think so? Doesn't sound so confident..." she responded almost naggingly. "Who have you got your eyes on?"

I backtracked. Maybe I should tell her? Again, she is one of my closest friends in Rainbow. I looked at her eager face as she shoved some rogue hairs away from her face. I responded quietly, "Julien."

"Julien! No, you've gotta be joking me," she said, laughing. I wanted to jump out at her in anger but I resisted the urge. I guess it's official now. She looked at my now tomato colored face and laughed again, "I was just playing around, Ela. Nizan's not bad, but where did the choice come from?"

"It's been happening after I rescued him from that rugged old House-complex thing. I don't know if they're real feelings though. Then again, I've never really had the opportunity to - " I said, interrupted.

"You've never had a boyfriend?" she exclaimed. "Ela, oh Ela, be prepared for a whole world of confusion."

"Hm," I said, somewhat defeated. "I think that's my cue to leave."

"Hey, hey, I didn't mean anything of it. Say, mind if I stop by your dorm later? We can talk about it," she compromised.

"Okay, better not be as much of a bitch," I said, the words unintentionally flying out of my mouth. What? Why did I just say that?

"Ooookay... will do," Valkyrie said. She gave me a smile and I left the room, heading right back up the stairs. The mess hall was empty and I could hear the rec room lively as ever. I was just about to divert towards the rec room when Nizan intersected my path. He looked rather healthy disregarding the scars on his arm.

"Nizan? You're up and about?" I asked. He was moving his hands ever so slightly and a clicking noise emitted from them but I couldn't see what he was doing.

"Oui, and call me Julien if you don't mind," he said continuing downstairs. If he crossed paths with Meghan, oh boy, she better keep her mouth shut. He took a step down the stairs and I glared at him just for a moment, my thoughts wavering the possibilities of a relationship. I started towards the rec room again when the intercom slashed through my pity daydream and Six's voice took over. "Ela, Rook, Emmanuelle, and Elena - please come to my office as a group, pronto," she said.

Julien stopped dead in his tracks and around, glaring at me, as Emmanuelle exited her dorm just behind me. We all exchanged looks as Elena jogged down the stairs and we caught her gaze as well. We were more than aware that we were all going on an operation and none of us were particularly excited.

* * *

Author's Note: _Hi, as you can see in the title I had added a small tag that says "(REWRITING)," which, rest assured, I am doing. However, the process is generally a bit slow as I've got to cram a lot of summer work that I procrastinated in as school starts in roughly a week for me. The content in the chapters won't waver much, hopefully, but I plan to add a little more oomph to every chapter just to reach a word count I'm satisfied with and to add maybe a bit more substance through character or plot development. This chapter was made a bit hastily so I could feed you guys with some newer content. Newer chapters will definitely be juicier as I'm already setting them up with this cliffhanger. As always, thanks for reading, have a good day._


	7. Allergic to Work

Julien, Elena, Emmanuelle, and I reluctantly headed upstairs where Six's office was. We peered down the long corridor as it peeked into view over the top step's horizon and continued towards the heavy metal door. Julien pressed the intercom button and spoke: "we're all outside, Six, call us in whenever." My eyes connected with Julien's and he smiled at me - but I saw right through it. He was anxious, just like all of us, and there was no doubt in my mind that he definitely wasn't prepared to hop right back into the action as he wasn't even fully recovered yet. "You may come in now," the intercom spoke, cutting through the silence.

Elena turned the doorknob and opened the door, giving everyone a clear view of Six organizing something into a folder that had "CLASSIFIED" printed in bulky, blocky red text. Elena and Julien entered one after the other and sat down in the two seats. Emmanuelle and I filed in behind them but stood next to each other to the right of Elena's seat. "I think you're probably aware of why I called you in today, right?" Six said a few moments after.

"Yes," we all replied in unison. Emmanuelle rested her hand on my shoulder and our eyes connected as I looked at her puzzled, however, it put me at ease. We looked back over at Six as she slid the manila folder across the desk. We all eyed it as she opened it and turned it so the documents were facing us. The first thing I read was the location, Italy, which didn't make the situation any better.

"We did have an operation in Iraq where we'd be working jointly with some Delta Force members, but we've currently put said operation on hiatus as they've said they're prioritized with some other insurgency-related matters. I suppose you guys are lucky," Six continued. "Nizan, I'm tasking you and Pichon to logistics while Bosak and Alvarez will be working in the field. I've put your recent injury into consideration, however, we're also bringing you to support Bosak and Alvarez with your trauma plates. Tidy those up for them, please."

"Will do, Six," Julien said, nodding. The room fell silent as Emmanuelle read all of the debrief information. "Is there anything else we should know?" Julien asked.

"You guys are clear. Oh - just to clarify, Streicher will be taking you guys there at 0800 hours two days from now. Dismissed," Six said. She turned around in her chair and wheeled over to her computer. Emmanuelle shuffled all of the documents into the folder hastily and took it with her as she exited the room, everyone following closely behind. "Are you guys busy?" Emmanuelle asked, "we can discuss this in my dorm for a bit."

"Sure," Elena said, volunteering all of us. Everyone followed Emmanuelle downstairs and to the left where her dorm door was. I eyed the small operator patch that was attached to the door as she opened it, motioning us to enter. We entered diligently and sat down at a roundtable as Emmanuelle closed the door and joined us. The room was silent, as we all were absorbing the operation information. "Let me just say - I'm sick of Six calling me 'Pichon' instead of Emmanuelle," Emmanuelle complained piercing the silence, "I've been at Hereford for almost three years now and we're not on personal terms?" Emmanuelle scoffed.

"I can't get used to anyone calling me Alvarez anymore," Elena chimed, "but this shouldn't be what we're concerned about right now." I took the folder and read over the details where I also peered at a highlighted detail: the G.I.S. would be joining us as well.

"Did we ignore the fact that Aria and the other guy - what's his name?" I continued.

"Adriano," Julien cut in.

"Adriano, yeah. They're going to be with us as well," I stammered. I dropped my hand from the tabletop and rested it on my knee. "Normally I'd be happy to go on a new operation but I'm still emotionally exhausted from the last."

Julien rested his left hand on mine under the table. "It shouldn't be so bad. I'm recovering but I'm still ready to go out into the field again," he consoled. Contact with him soothed me and I was puzzled as to why he decided to be touchy. _Fuck_ , I repeated in my head, _I shouldn't be feeling like this._ I took a deep breath and just moments later he retracted and placed his hands on the table. "We've still got some time, guys. We'll be fine."

"Okay, you guys should probably go now," Emmanuelle insisted.

"Shooing us out?" Elena scoffed. "Party was just getting started."

"I'm a busy woman, Elena. Now shoo, shoo. If you need the folder, I'll leave it in my room on this exact table. The door will be unlocked," Emmanuelle persisted. All of us stood up, said goodbye to each other, and left Emmanuelle's room. I heard the door lock behind me, a buzzing sound started to emit just a minute after, and I'd started to hear some groans protruding from the other side of the door. _Okay, cue to leave,_ I thought to myself. Elena just started laughing as she returned to the G.E.O. joint dorm.

I walked into the rec room and glared all over for Meghan. I wanted to talk to her about the operation just to blow off some steam as I haven't had a genuine conversation with her in a long while. I scanned the room again as I hadn't seen her the first time but still failed to pick her out from the crowd, assuming she was probably somewhere else in Hereford. I thought about for a moment and my mind clicked - Meghan was talking about heading towards the gym. Hereford had a small training facility on the bottom floor at the other side of the building that was intended to be used for CQB training and hand-to-hand basics for recruits and joint training, but most of Rainbow referred to it as the gym.

I made my way downstairs to see if Meghan was there with Taina, and to no avail, she was. Meghan had her eyes locked onto Taina, who was knocking the life out of a worn-out punching bag. Taina's force always scared me as she was arguably one of the best CQB combatants at Rainbow, and rightfully so. Her muscles weren't as toned as Meghan's, however, Taina always knew how to gain the advantage. I continued walking over to Meghan who was in another world staring at Taina, probably daydreaming. I bumped into her shoulder and she stumbled, startled, and regained her composure. I was genuinely smiling and about to burst into a laugh. "You're giving Taina some super obvious googly eyes," I said, quietly.

"Was it really that obvious?" she asked. "At least you were the one to catch me instead of someone else."

"Yeah... okay, Meghan," I said. I didn't want to talk about the operation but I had to tell her. "I'm going on -"

"An operation?" she interjected, "yeah, I know. I'm so baffled as to why they chose you even after you had just returned maybe... two or three days ago? If even."

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about. When you're done awkwardly staring down Pereira, come to my dorm," I finished. Meghan gave me a death stare and I smiled, leaving. I went back up to my dorm and closed the door, locking it. I had instead decided I'd rather sleep to let off some steam first, realizing there wasn't much Meghan could say or do to comfort me right now. I sent her a quick message telling her said information and she obliged, saying she would come later. I slid a key for Aria under the door in our "secret spot," which was the right of the doorframe and I wrapped myself in a clean, warm gray blanket.

I suddenly found myself waking up in the back of a vehicle - some dark trunk or dark interior? I wasn't fully conscious nor able to tell. Wait, an armored - armored car?

 _Fuck!_

I got up hastily and stared outside through the bulletproof plexiglass viewing port. Elena. I banged on the glass, trying to smash it, but I wasn't strong enough. It was plexiglass, who can break that without a tool? Nobody. Not me. I screamed as loud as I could but nobody could hear me. I checked for my gear and there was nothing on me, I was half naked. In the blink of an eye, the world around me froze and the crystallization startled me.

I screamed louder, no response. Ice crystals formed at my face and I felt them melt on impact. It left a cold, somewhat burning sensation on my cheeks for seconds and then faded into comfortable warmth. It went on for what probably was a few more minutes but it felt like hours. What was happening? Where am I? I laid down on my back and I felt the cold prick my lips and in a flash, everything faded to black.

My eyes flew open as I stared at someone on top of my chest. My hands moved to about ear level as the person pinned my left arm to the mattress. In an instant, I jumped on the person propping myself above them. If I had a weapon I would surely be ready to kill them, but oddly enough, they didn't resist at all. I stared at them and I looked them all over, the person was female. Her hair and skin both had very similar colors. I looked down at their body to see that the person was completely naked. _What the fuck?_ I thought to myself.

I let go and looked at myself, and to no avail, I was half naked. My underwear still remained, but my other articles had been somewhat removed, where they laid on the spread and the floor. _Did I do this?_ I thought to myself. _Okay, okay, okay..._ I sat up and flicked on the lamp on my nightstand and peered over at the person who was sprawled out across my bed giggling. _Fucking Aria._ "Aria, what the fuck are you doing!?" I yelled.

She guided her index finger to cover my lips and let out a quiet "shush." I could smell the alcohol on her breath. She attempted to point at the clock, her head wavering up and down. 11:43 P.M., well beyond curfew. She drunkenly smiled and I backed up, looking around the room which was almost trashed. I caught a glimpse of the silver flask she had been drinking from and it surely wasn't hers. She got on all fours and brought her head closer to me when I extended my hand and pushed her back. She responded by guiding my hand to her breast and I retracted hastily.

I sat up and placed my hands on her shoulders and she placed her left hand on my right, caressing the top of it. It felt so, so good, but it was Aria. "Don't you ever want to h- have f- fun?" she giggled.

"Aria, this isn't what you want and this isn't what I want. Don't make a mistake," I said.

"I'm n- not... Ela," she said, belching and looked downwards. She brought her eyes back up and connected with mine. "Olivier... isn't my -" she tried to finish before she laid down. She'd completely forgotten what she was saying. At this point I just came to the conclusion: she was just way too fucking drunk. But, but... I could use this to get some answers about Olivier and her. "Aria... what were you doing with Olivier this morning?" I asked.

"Wha? Olivi - oh, yeah... E(h)... Ela, I'm just using that man... H - he - he's good for sex," she said. I was barely able to understand her. She brought herself closer to me and pushed me back onto the mattress with considerable force, and I couldn't bring myself up. "I need sex, Ela... with anyone."

I forced her back again and I got really close to her face. "Don't... fucking... do that... again," I half-heartedly threatened. I thought the awkward foreplay was a bit enticing. She brought her lips to mine suddenly and it startled me. _This is bullshit, what are you doing, Ela?_ I thought to myself. I stood up quickly and gave her more from the flask on the counter which was still almost full. Weak tolerance, I suppose. Similar to myself. I pushed her up towards her bed and gave her an empty promise that we could continue later. There was no way in hell that I'd go back to doing that again voluntarily.

I got back into my bed and instead of sleeping, I just laid there for what seemed like an hour recalling everything that had just happened. I wasn't ready to talk about this with anyone else for a while.

I hoped Aria would keep her drunken mouth shut.

* * *

Author's Note: _Sorry about the super-duper long delay. School has just started for me and it's been a bit difficult adjusting as I've got extracurricular and probably too many AP classes to put this into my daily digest. Anyways, this chapter was mostly for character development, but in haste, I added the portion with Alibi at the end for reasons unknown. Internal conflict? External conflict? We'll see..._ _Also, I'm about to be rammed by hurricane Florence, so don't expect to see much new work for a week or so worst-case-scenario. Don't hesitate to leave a review, and have a great day!_


	8. The Flament Tempest

There is nothing better than a warm cup of coffee in the morning. I intended to stop drinking coffee as I deducted that it was the reason for my abnormal sleep patterns, but I couldn't stay away from the delicacy. The clock read 4:50 in the morning; it was forty minutes before wake-up. I was surely aware that I had a problem, but I still performed well on the field. Usually. Why fix what isn't broken?

I took a sip when Tina had come up to the mess hall. Tina looked like a mess and was still groggy, her blanket still wrapped around her neck. "Ela… what are you doing?" she sluggishly asked.

"Couldn't sleep," I responded. "The better question is: what are you doing? You're never up this early."

"Meghan's having some trouble, and of course she decides to come and bug me about it. Not that I don't care, but it's 4:50 in the God damn morning," she replied.

"Does it have to do with her love life?" I asked.

"In-fact it does. You know?" she responded.

"Yep. So, where is she now?"

"I really have no clue. As bad as it sounds—I'm glad that she's not bugging me about it right now. Okay, well, I'm going to try to at least get thirty minutes of sleep," Tina said. She trailed off downstairs after picking up a glass of water.

"Good luck," I sheepishly replied. The mention of "relationship troubles" made me think about the condition of Olivier and Aria's relationship. I felt God awful for Olivier, but there wasn't much I could do. The truth hurts; was I supposed to tell him?

I was left alone with my thoughts until Olivier coincidentally entered the mess hall and scanned the room, his eyes connecting with mine. "Up so early, Olivier?" I rhetorically asked him. The sound of my voice seemed to give him a jolt as his eyes swiftly connected with mine, but he had no physical reaction. He walked over sat down in-front of me. "Doing well?" he asked. He was toying around with the laces on his shoes.

"Just fine," I replied. I figured that while I was alone with Olivier, I might as well ask him about the situation that had occurred in the showers now while we were chatting in private. "Olivier, I know this is abrupt, but I want to ask you a question: who were you in the showers with a few days ago? Be honest."

He stopped messing with his shoes and looked at me, bringing his hands together as he placed them on the table. I came with the intention to see if he'd tell the truth first. Honesty goes a long way. I watched as his face turned bright red, and he brought his hands up to his face and rubbed them up and down rhythmically. "Ela. Can I trust you?" he asked.

"Sure. I'm all ears," I said. His leg was now bouncing as he tapped his foot on the ground. The stalling was starting to get a bit annoying.

His blue eyes connected with mine as he stared, giving off the notion that he wasn't confident in my answer. "Fuck!" he said, raising his voice so it was impactful but not audible to the other asleep operators. The sudden change in tone frightened me. "Elzbieta, I've been with—" he said, taking a deep breath. "Aria. It's de Luca, the new girl."

"Yeah, I know. I room with her. I heard you guys in the showers. Yeah…" I said. He hid his face behind his hands again, groaning. He tried to get up, but I stopped him: "No, no! Don't leave, sit down. I'm not going to say anything to the others."

He brought his hands down and his face up, staring at me again. "Merci," he replied solemnly. "Look, my thoughts are dangerous. I just can't stop thinking about… her."

"Aria?" I asked. He shook his head "no." My heart sank. "Your girlfriend... what's her name? Claire?" I felt bad.

He nodded. It was silent for a moment before he spoke again: "I just—it's too difficult to… ugh," he said, struggling for words. "I'm falling back on the side of me that I worked so hard to destroy. It's just like the drinking issue and— well, yeah." He stopped, stooping his head and rubbing the back of his neck.

I felt horrible. He evidently wasn't comfortable talking about this

He stood up. "I'm just not ready to talk about it now. Look, I'll be at the outdoor track for most of today. Stop by if you want to hear more about it," he finished, filling a water bottle and promptly leaving. I said nothing and stared at where he was once seated.

* * *

Wake-up came in due time. I sat at my table as operators filed in and out over the next thirty minutes, greeting me as they walked by. Of course, I returned their 'hello,' but I instead sought to talk to Olivier more about the issue. Now more awake, I decided it was a good time given it was now 6:10. I started towards the outdoor track.

Olivier was there, as expected, running at appalling speeds for his build. I suppose he came out here to relieve stress; running was one of the outlets he had for pent-up sadness or anger. Maybe both. I guided myself over to a bench where his workout gear was seated. It was still relatively dark out, so I assumed that he just couldn't see me under the ugly, yellowish streetlamp. I called out to him when he veered close to me.

He stopped at glared at me, pulling out his headphones. He walked over and swapped seats with his gym gear next to me. He was catching his breath when he finally spoke up: "So, what else do you want to know?"

I wanted to make sure that Aria wasn't taking advantage of Olivier in any way, but I wasn't prepared to tell him that she was probably deceiving him. Instead, I popped a question: "Do you… love Aria?"

He gave me a glare identical to those he exhibited earlier at the table. "In all honestly," he said, "I wish I had an answer for you. I really do." He jokingly laughed; however, I was a bit puzzled. His smile faded as he looked me in the eyes. "Ela, 'love' is so far-fetched for me now that I'm not even sure what's real and what isn't. Whatever the outcome of this 'relationship' is, I'm sure I've experienced worse." I swear I saw a tear come to his eye.

"I joined the army to get away from these kinds of problems, but they seem to follow me everywhere. It's everyone. I know you've experienced that sort of thing with me, and I know that it didn't leave us on much of a good note," he said, chuckling. "God is with me. When I die, or if I even die, I want to pass with not a single burden."

Lera, code-name "Finka," called his name from behind us. Olivier got up, looked at me, and muttered "merci" to me before turning and starting towards Lera. It warmed my heart to know that despite all his problems, which were surely worse than mine, Olivier always had hope. I could learn a thing or two from him, but Nizan needed more than just hope right now.

* * *

 _Doc's Infirmary, 2:30 P.M._

I sat and watched as Nizan awoke, coughing up a storm. He stared at me and smiled. "Ela," he said.

"Julien," I replied, doing a subtle head-nod. "How are you feeling?"

"Just fine," he said. "I get out of this damn infirmary in a day or two, can't stand this place."

"You know I can hear you, right?" Gustave, "Doc," called out from his open officer nearby. Both Nizan and I laughed. After that, the chatter slowed to a halt, and my heart fluttered as he just curiously glared into my eyes. He then decided to speak up again: "How is everyone?"

"They're just fine," I said. "You'll be surprised at how little has changed in the time you've been out."

"I haven't been out for that long, have I?" he asked, laughing. He then grunted and fell back in pain after he attempted to prop himself up on his elbows. Doc yelled at him to stay relatively flat on the bed. He laughed and flopped onto his back again.

"Of course not," I said, smiling at him. He returned the favor and reached up as he brushed my hair with his hands.

"I'm going on an operation soon," I said, thinking about the upcoming siege in Italy.

"Where?" he asked.

"Italy," I replied.

"Oh? Italy… interesting. Sounds like it has to do with those two new people. Make it back safe, will you?" he asked.

"I will, Julien. I will," I said. He smiled, and I left the room. The conversation was overwhelmingly choppy, but I had no reason to complain. I was satisfied with the subtle level of intimacy, but I was still getting mixed feelings from Julien.

There was much, much more to uncover about him and the others at Rainbow.

* * *

 _Hi guys! I know it's been a loooong while since I've posted anything but I haven't really had the time to with my AP load and massive writers block. I know this chapter is filled with what seems like mindless dialogue, but it's meant to familiarize Ela with Lion because he's going to be more important later on in the story (and it's also because I'm learning and have to get back into the gist of creative writing)._ _You'll see! Also,_ _I'm really sorry about the small awkward snippet of dialogue between Ela and Rook; in all honesty, that segment's just choppy because I rushed the end of the chapter so I could get some sort of content out to you guys ASAP. I guess it sort of blends in with the relationship? Meh. Anyways, **please leave a review!** I love constructive criticism and will adapt to any style or community want if I see it as suitable, fitting, or better than what I was doing._

 _Thank you, and happy reading! :-)_


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